


Eclipse

by ZhenLe



Category: Free!
Genre: Children, Fluff, M/M, eclipse - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-11
Updated: 2014-01-11
Packaged: 2018-01-08 08:13:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,072
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1130342
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZhenLe/pseuds/ZhenLe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Makoto’s always been scared of the darkness. But at least Haru's hand is right there for him to hold.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Eclipse

**Author's Note:**

  * For [camwillflower](https://archiveofourown.org/users/camwillflower/gifts).



> TAKE NOTE (for this story at least) that Makoto’s eyes always get red and puffy after he cries

“H-Haru-chan?”

Shuffling noises broke the tranquil of the night as the boy brought the blanket all the way to his chin, “A-are you t-there?”

A smaller warm hand encompassed his shaking one.

“I’m right here, Makoto.”

Just that soft monotonous voice provided enough reassurance, and coupled with the comforting hand wrapped around his own, Makoto felt safe, protected.

“Sorry, Haru-chan.”

“Un. Go to sleep, Makoto.” Haruka wriggled a little and pressed his body to Makoto’s.

The little brunet smiled to himself in the darkness. He had always been scared of the dark, a fear that had on multiple occasions caused him to cry. Yet Haruka had never once laughed or mocked him for that childish fear. Instead, the raven-haired boy had made sure to keep close to Makoto whenever they had sleepovers – a frequent practice for the two friends. With Haru close by, Makoto felt safe and warm, he felt like he could do anything, live through any nightmare. His mindset always switched from ‘the night is dark and scary’ to ‘the sun will always rise tomorrow’ when Haru was around.

X-X

 Haru felt a familiar hand squeeze his, accompanied with a sudden added warmth to his side. He felt a slight trembling coming from Makoto, and instinctively gripped his hand tightly.

The boys were standing with the rest of their class in the field at school, waiting to observe the solar eclipse that came to the town of Iwatobi every ten years. And it was during this year – their first year of elementary school – when they had the chance to experience this phenomenon. Makoto was completely unnerved, however, when the teacher described how the moon would block the sun entirely for a few minutes, turning everything dark. That was the reason why he was now huddled against Haru, anxiously preparing himself for what was to come.

The sky had already started to darken as the rest of the classes in Iwatobi Elementary gathered outside. Friends were chatting animatedly, impatiently awaiting the arrival of the occurrence none of them had ever witnessed before. Teachers whispered amongst themselves, just as excited. It was only Makoto – he was the only one feeling afraid, the only one who was shaking, the only one who was clutching on so tightly to his best friend’s hand for comfort.

“Haru…” he whimpered softly as the light continued to die out.

Haruka, in response, moved a little closer to Makoto and squeezed his hand back.

“I’m here, Makoto.”

The younger of the two knew that Haru had his back no matter what. He knew that Haru would always be there for him, whatever the circumstance. The fear still didn’t subside, however. Makoto bit his lip. Wasn’t Haru right here, next to him? Wasn’t Haru holding his hand? Wasn’t he safe? Why did he still feel this scared?

~

Time passed by excruciatingly slowly, for both the eager spectators and for the trembling brunet. During that time, Makoto figured out the reason why he was still this apprehensive – he could no longer change his mindset to ‘the sun will always rise tomorrow’ in this situation. No, this was in the middle of the day, when the sun was still hanging high and shining proudly on their world. And yet, the light was being overcome so easily by dark shadows. That scared Makoto, the fact that light was so fragile in the presence of darkness. And this time, he had no reassurance.

By the time half the sun was blocked, Makoto had been reduced to nothing more than a silently-bawling quivering mess. He had started crying into Haru’s the shoulder, and boy had willingly let him. Nothing had worked. The sobs had started to increase in volume, and as a quick reflex action, Haru pulled his best friend away from the crowd to a safer place, away from his classmates lest they find out and tease him. No one saw them. It was much too dark.

Having great night vision, Haruka knew exactly where he was taking Makoto. They hurried along, Makoto sniffing and constantly wiping at his eyes wet from tears.

~

“Makoto.”

The boys were huddled together, right by the poolside thanks to Haruka’s choice of a ‘safe destination’. It was dark; the sun had been completely overshadowed by the moon. And, if Haruka remembered the teacher correctly, ‘It’ll probably last for five minutes’. Unsure of how much time had passed between now and then, Haruka knew that it wouldn’t be long until the light came back into Makoto’s life.

“Makoto,” the raven-haired boy was at a loss for words.

To make up for that loss, he took Makoto’s hand and dipped it into the cool water. Haruka had always found solace in the water, it was always comforting to be near the water, it was his safe haven. Makoto knew that very well, and even though he did not feel the same way about the water no matter how hard he tried, a small sprout of happiness bloomed in his heart that his best friend was trying to make him feel as safe as possible.

“Thank you, Haru-chan.”

~

They were late for class. The eclipse had been over for awhile now. But Haruka hadn’t allowed either of them to go back to the rest straightaway. “I want to stay at the pool.” Was the excuse that Haru made up, knowing that Makoto would try to persuade him as much as he could, but would eventually give up if he himself didn’t give in to the green-eyed brunet. And he was right; Makoto sat by his side until Haru deemed it alright to return. Makoto never knew Haru’s real intention behind staying by the pool.

X-X

It was the year that they both turned 17 when the eclipse came back to pay its respects to Iwatobi. The entire student body of Iwatobi High School was out in the field, being spectators to the decennial performance. The sky had darkened considerably before Makoto finally caved in and clutched on to Haru’s uniform, his fear of the dark never having really left. The latter smiled to himself, remembering the time ten years ago when he had skipped class to save Makoto from embarrassment – and said boy had never found out.  Haruka turned around and took Makoto’s quavering hand.

“Don’t cry,” he whispered soft enough to be for Makoto’s ears only, “I don’t want you to miss class again because of your puffy eyes.”

**Author's Note:**

> Gift for Vanessa (camwillflower) for her birthday WHICH WAS LIKE LAST YEAR BUT ASHDAKJSD I only got this account recently :P


End file.
